Wordless Wednesday: April 3, 2024

 

                                              For Wordless Wednesday

A Brief Book Review: The Way of the Cross

A Brief Book Review: The Way of the Cross

Author: Richard Holloway, with a Foreword by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Robert Runcie

Publisher: Collins Fount Paperbacks, in association with Faith Press, 121 pages

The Author

The Rev. Richard Holloway, born in Glasgow, completed his theological studies in Edinburgh, London and New York. He was ordained a deacon in 1959, and a priest in 1960, serving two parishes in Glasgow until spending a sabbatical year (1967-8) at Union Theological Seminary in New York. His other pastorates included Old St. Paul’s, Edinburgh, the Church of the Advent, Boston, and Vicar of St. Mary Magdalen, Oxford. He also served as Bishop of Edinburgh, and was elected Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church in 1992. In addition to this volume, he is the author of several other books. 

Contents

This volume, in addition to 8 chapters, consists of Acknowledgements, Foreword by the Archbishop of Canterbury, a poem called Crux by Bob Bridges, and an Epilogue. With the exception of the first chapter, at the end of all the others there are questions for discussion.

Brief Observations

This wee volume contains meditations on seven of the fourteen traditional stations of the cross, combined with commentary on biblical texts and various literary citations, including: The Return of Arthur; The Last of the Just; Murder in the Cathedral and Four Quartets; The Mystery of Suffering; Too Late the Phalarope; The Ballad of Reading Gaol.

According to Holloway, the Passion of Jesus has a multitude of meanings, both reveals insightful truths, and transcends human explanations. The Passion contains revelation and mystery, as well as the presence of evil and holiness. 

Some of the factors the author mentions in the trial and killing of Jesus are: envy, power and its abuse over against weakness and love, the fall and original sin, scapegoating the Jews, Jesus’s acceptance of and public association with women in contrast to the discrimination against women, the sin of self-deception. 

Holloway, without naming them, reflects on the familiar views of atonement—endeavouring to understand and respond to them morally and theologically. He speaks of Jesus in front of us, for us and in us—bringing us forgiveness and new life.

The volume’s short epilogue is titled “Resurrection,” which ends with a citation from C.S. Lewis’s, The Last Battle. 

This little work seems somewhat dated—published in 1986—and contains sexist language; and takes on the Passion that readers might argue about or disagree with.

For others, it may help them in their Lenten spiritual journey. 

Weekend in Black & White - February 3, 2024

 

          

                                                           Trinity Methodist Church

                                  For Weekend in Black & White

A Brief Book Review: The Collector

The Collector

Author: Daniel Silva

Publisher: Harper An Imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, paperback, 401 pages, including Author’s Note, and Acknowledgments

Reviewed by Rev. Garth Wehrfritz-Hanson

Author

Daniel Silva is a New York Times bestselling author of 25 novels. Many are familiar with his thriller series featuring Gabriel Allon, a spy and art restorer. His novels have been translated into over 30 languages. Silva and his television journalist wife, Jamie Gangel, are the parents of twins, Lily and Nicholas, and they live in Florida. 

Contents

This novel consists of four parts: Part One The Concert, Part Two The Conspiracy, Part Three The Contact, and Part Four The Conclusion. 

The Collector, like most, if not all, of Daniel Silva’s novels has a thrilling plot, involving many characters, and including a number of circumstances, in various places—including Italy, Germany, Denmark, and Russia. It is, like his other novels, a well written page-turner. 

Gabriel Allon supposedly is trying to retire. However, The Concert, by Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer, and 13 other works of art have been stolen from Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Through a series of events, Allon eventually becomes involved with the PET, Denmark’s Security and Intelligence Service. The relationship between DanskOil and RuzNeft is not going well, and the Danes want to end it. It is suspected that one or more Russian political and economic elitists were linked to the theft of Vermeer’s painting. Moreover, Allon and other Western intelligence agencies become aware of a Russian plot to, if successful, potentially start a nuclear war. 

Did Allon and the Western intelligence agencies recover the Vermeer painting, and did they succeed in preventing an apocalyptic nightmare? Read the novel to find out.

Funeral Sermon for Delores Bruce

Sermon for (Ardith) Delores Bruce by Pastor Garth Wehrfritz-Hanson, based on Ps 121 and Jn 14:1-6, December 18, 2023, Messiah Lutheran Church, Camrose, eleven o’clock.

Your loving Delores Bruce, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, family member, friend, neighbour and child of God, and so much more, has departed from this life; for her eternal home in heaven. All of you who knew and loved Delores shall certainly miss her. She meant so much to you, she inspired and influenced your lives in many ways. Her life made a difference in your lives. 

Delores loved and valued her family relationships. At least one of her children, if not all of them would phone Delores pretty much every day. That speaks volumes about her love for you and your love for her, the high quality relationship you were blessed to have with her. 

Speaking of love, Delores was also a person of faith, she knew, experienced and was most grateful for God’s love, that is why she could be a loving person, and remind others that God loves you. 

Whenever I visited her in the hospital; she always appreciated having a devotion time together where we would read from Scripture, share a brief meditation, thoughts, or reflections, and pray, and she also deeply appreciated receiving the sacrament of Holy Communion. Prior to going into the hospital, Delores was faithful in her church attendance at Skudesness Lutheran Church. So we give thanks to the LORD for Delores’s strong faith in God and God’s Word, and reliance on Christ for forgiveness of sins by participating in the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. 

A favourite Bible passage of Delores’s was Psalm 121. It is a beautiful psalm of trust in God’s protection. It also has the superscription “A Song of Ascents.” So it is a pilgrim psalm, a travellers’ song that the ancient Israelites sang as they travelled to and from Jerusalem for the Jewish festivals. In biblical times, travelling could be dangerous, there were bandits who could beat and rob you, and there were wild animals that might attack you. So the psalmist confidently placed their trust in the LORD for a safe journey. So too Delores placed her trust in the LORD as she journeyed through life. Life has its ups and downs, its twists and turns, I’m sure, Delores had her share of ups and downs, her twists and turns, however as the psalmist assures us, and assured Delores: “My help comes from the LORD,” and, “The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in from this time and forevermore.” 

Few psalms are so well-known as Psalm 121, mostly because it has been sung as a hymn for many generations. John Campbell, the Governor General of Canada from 1878-83, wrote the Canadian favourite, “Unto the hills around do I lift up my longing eyes.” (Lutheran Book of Worship #445) The hymn was popular among Canadian soldiers during World War II. 

The message of Psalm 121 is simple and powerful: God watches over us as permanently as the mountains or hills mark the horizon. Verses 3-4 reflect the terror of a sleepless guard or soldier lest they doze while on watch at night. Unlike human guards and soldiers, who can and sometimes do get tired and fall asleep, God does not fall asleep. No, God always watches over us. As the psalmist affirms, “the LORD is your keeper.” I’m sure that Delores found comfort and peace in those words of promise that the LORD was her keeper in all of her ups and downs, twists and turns throughout her life. I hope and pray that all of you will too. 

That’s why in John 14:1-6, Jesus also gives us a wonderful promise. The promise is that those who believe in Jesus and in God the Father have a dwelling place waiting and prepared for them in the Father’s heavenly house. Why? because Jesus is the way, the truth and the life that leads us into our Father’s heavenly house. When Delores was in hospital, she was between homes. She realized that she required more care and could not return to her Hillside condo, she was approved for placement, however she was not able to move into a new home. Now she no longer needs a temporary, earthly home—she is in her eternal home. As we journey through this life and are away from our home for some time, such as when we go on a long holiday—when we arrive back home again, we often say: “There’s no place like home.” For Delores now her journey in this life is over. How much more, thanks to Jesus, she can say: “There’s no place like home,” since now she is in her perfect, eternal home with Jesus, her Lord and Saviour. 

There are many people who journey through life as lost souls because they do not believe in or know Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. If we believe in him like Delores did; then we can live with confidence that we know where we’re going and how to get there. We too shall eventually be able to say: “There’s no place like our eternal home with Jesus.” 

What a wonderful message of hope these words of Jesus are for us today! Hope for a better future for Delores—since now her suffering is over, and she is at peace. Hope for you and I—as we continue on in our Advent season’s journey of waiting and watching for, and being prepared for the coming of Jesus. Hope for us as we journey ahead and celebrate our Saviour’s birth. For he is our Immanuel—God with us now and always, just as he has promised us through his Word. 

So we give thanks to the LORD for Delores’s life; for all the good she was able to do; all the hope she gave you and others; all the love she shared with you thanks to the saving love and grace of Jesus Christ for her. For that, thanks be to God. Amen. 

Brief Book Review: The Heart of Christmas

The Heart of Christmas 

Author: Compiled by Sarah Bubbers, 

Publisher: Collins Fount Paperbacks, 143 pages, including Foreword, In Case You Didn’t Know, Acknowledgements, Crisis at Christmas

Reviewed by Rev. Garth Wehrfritz-Hanson

Author

At the time of this publication, Sarah Bubbers had studied English at the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, then was an editorial staff person of a London publisher—working on children’s books, religious books, and fiction. Then she became a freelance editor. Her twin baby sons were born during work on this volume.

Contents

The volume consists of four chapters: 1 Away in a Manger A Child’s Christmas; 2 Love Came Down at Christmas God’s Wonderful Gift; 3 O Come, All Ye Faithful Christmas Remembered; 4 See Amid the Winter’s Snow The Challenge of Christmas. 

Each of the chapters begin with citations from Luke’s and Matthew’s accounts of Jesus’s birth. The chapters then include several stories, poems, reflections, hymns, and “Kid’s Quotes” of seven year olds, such as: “Christmas comes so that we can have peace, love and hope all year round” (p. 43). And: “At Christmas I think about poor Santa who gets soot on him” (p. 43). 

Some of the “classic” Christmas stories appear in the volume—for example: “Carol Singing” from A Child’s Christmas in Wales, by Dylan Thomas; “Christmas in Prison,” by Richard Wurmbrand; and “Christmas at Mole End,” from The Wind in the Willows, by Kenneth Grahame. 

There are other inspiring, humorous, and insightful stories by contributors from a variety of backgrounds, including: clergy, politicians, writers, broadcasters, actors, and so on. One of my favourite reflections is “Christmas in Israel,” by Walter Barker, who also provides a brief description of the Jewish Hanukkah festival. 

Under the title “In Case You Didn’t Know...” Bubbers provides biographical sketches of this volume’s contributors. 

What I appreciated most, however, is that the book’s royalties went to help a London charitable organisation called Crisis at Christmas, which began working in the field of homelessness in 1967. Moreover, the authors and publishers shared their works free of charge. 

This wee volume is ideal for families celebrating the true spirit of Christmas. 

Brief Book Review: The Forgotten Touch

The Forgotten Touch: More Stories of Healing

Author: Nigel W.D. Mumford

Publisher: Seabury Books, paperback, 135 pages, including Acknowledgments, Forward by Russ Parker, Prologue and Epilogue

Reviewed by Rev. Garth Wehrfritz-Hanson

Author

At the time this volume was published, the Rev. Nigel Mumford was born and educated in England, a former marine and now an Episcopal priest, and Director of the Healing Ministries of Christ the King Spiritual Life Centre in Albany, New York. He is also the author of Hand to Hand: From Combat to Healing. On his website, he is described as: an international speaker, author and founder of By His Wounds, Inc. a 501c3 non-profit, organization, focusing on Christian Healing. Nigel is also Priest Associate for Healing, at Galilee Church in Virginia Beach, VA.

Contents

The main body of this volume is divided up into Part One God’s Healing Grace and Part Two Sharing In The Ministry Of Healing. Part One contains eight chapters. Part Two contains four chapters. Each chapter begins with a biblical text. 

Brief Observations

Mumford himself shares autobiographical stories, including how God called him into ordained ministry after having served as a soldier in the British military. He began to focus on praying for healing and healing ministry when his sister, a ballet dancer, was healed of Dystonia. Mumford also tells several stories in the book of others being healed. 

He points out, among other things, that: there are different kinds of healing, it is not always what people expect, it may not be instantaneous, in addition to prayer and faith in God, it also may involve medical personnel, science and technology.

Mumford admits that there are cases where healing doesn’t happen. He addresses five blocks that prevent healing: unforgiveness, inner vows, unworthiness, occult involvement, and negative attitude. 

He goes on to identify ten major ingredients for healing, which are connected with listening, loving, and praying. He also discusses twelve ways to prepare for and introduce a healing ministry in a parish, as well as seven pitfalls to watch out for in a healing, prayer team ministry, and a checklist for a healing service. 

Aside from the sexist language, and a wee bit of questionable biblical, theological and practical presuppositions, some clergy and laity with an interest in healing ministry might find this volume helpful.